Member Retention: Make Sure You Employ the ‘Right’ Trainers

I recently published an article on churn management, which is the art of identifying the customers who are likely to churn from (leave) a company, and initiating proactive measures to retain them.

One of those proactive measures, according to the Mindbody (a management software provider), should be employing the right trainers.

Mindbody found that fitness operators looking to improve their member retention should focus on recruiting knowledgeable, friendly trainers.

They found that one in five (20%) of people who exercise regularly see having the right trainer as the most important factor in sticking to a new fitness regime – however, they found that only 4% of people claimed to have found their ideal trainer.

What Skills do Member Value?

The skills that people want in their trainers depends on the individual’s preferred primary exercise:

34% of those attending gyms for weight training value the trainers fitness knowledge the most.

Charlotte Newton, Mindbody’s senior marketing manager for EMEA, states that their data demonstrates “that a growing number of people are turning to pay-as-you-go classes and personal training (PT) sessions as opposed to fixed gym memberships, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for studios and gyms.”